McCovey Chronicles - Pablo Sandoval has forsaken usWe want to continue to create opportunities for payroll flexibility.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50879/mcc-fav.png2016-03-31T09:05:39-07:00http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/rss/stream/52428372016-03-31T09:05:39-07:002016-03-31T09:05:39-07:00Pablo Sandoval lost his job with the Red Sox
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<figcaption>Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>That escalated quickly. Let's remember just how lucky the Giants and their fans are. </p> <p>On Tuesday, I assured you that I wouldn't write up every piece of Pablo Sandoval news. Like the best and most sensible of New Year's resolutions, that lasted two days. This time, though, I assure you, it's newsworthy. For the formerly beloved three-time champion and captain of the hat industry has lost his job.</p>
<p>Pablo Sandoval is going to make $17.6 million to pinch-hit this year.</p>
<p>This does not fill me with joy, as <a href="http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2016/2/22/11094188/pablo-sandoval-red-sox-unflattering-pictures">I'm still rooting for the guy</a>. At the same time, I was banging that bring-Panda-back drum as loudly as anyone, and news like this makes me think things like, "Whew!" and "OH MY WORD" and "Whew!" Can you imagine what the Giants would be like right now? Matt Duffy would be scrapping for time in left to start the season (because we wouldn't know how good he really was), and there would be no Jeff Samardzija. It would be a mess.</p>
<p>The alternate history is terrifying enough just thinking about the hot takes. We wouldn't be half-worried about the rotation right now. We'd be full worried about Sandoval's weight, and the worrying would have started in February. Maybe Sandoval would have lost his job to Duffy toward the end of last year, or in spring training this year. But he still would have had the contract. And everyone would have brought it up every three seconds.</p>
<p>Instead of dwelling on the sad, negative alternate histories or the sad, negative reality in which Sandoval actually lives, let's turn this into a positive. Let's do something that's ...</p>
<p>Oh, it's the Mayor of the Internet!</p>
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<p>Mr. Mayor! It's an honor, sir.</p>
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<p><strong>Mayor of the Internet</strong>: /unfurls scroll</p>
<p><strong>Mayor of the Internet</strong>: And so it is, on this day, March 31, the day of Pablo Sandoval's final fall from grace, that I hereby proclaim this to be a baseball holiday, celebrated the world over. Henceforth, every March 31 will be known as <strong>Matt Duffy Appreciation Day</strong>, in honor of the Giants' starting third baseman that no one expected, but all have enjoyed. Let us appreciate the player who made us forget about ... you know ... that other player, who makes us sad.</p>
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<p>Wow, thanks, Mr. Mayor! I can get behind this. On every March 31, we'll tell Matt Duffy stories around the campfire and swap Matt Duffy-themed gifts. Do you remember that time Duffy hit a double into the gap? I do. It was a good double.</p>
<p>Appreciate what we have. Remember what we could have had. That could have been us, man. That could have been us.</p>
<p>I can't believe just how quickly this all caught on fire for Sandoval. Hopefully this is a klaxon that echoes in his brain, and he's already in the first third of a montage.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2016/3/31/11338218/pablo-sandoval-sf-giants-matt-duffyGrant Brisbee2015-09-21T14:16:07-07:002015-09-21T14:16:07-07:00Pablo Sandoval would have messed the offseason up
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<figcaption>John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Giants have missed out on exactly one homegrown free agent in the last decade. Boy, did they ever get lucky. </p> <p>You probably don't remember it, but about 10 months ago, this site was frantically detailing every Pablo Sandoval rumor. The Giants weren't sure if they could re-sign him, and he became the priority of the offseason. Considering they didn't have any in-house options to play third base -- just Joaquin Arias and that skinny kid who skipped Triple-A -- <a href="http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/3/6/5478796/pablo-sandoval-contract-extension">this was a big deal</a>.</p>
<p>I was for an extension<a href="http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/8/18/6032983/giants-pablo-sandoval-contract/in/5242837" target="_blank"> before the offseason started</a>. I was for an extension two years ago. I thought it was criminal that the Giants were going to mess around with one of the only hitters they had developed since Matt Williams. For the most part, if there were disagreements, they were about the length and the size of the contract. The people arguing that he should go away would always come off as human YouTube comments, but they were in the minority. Most Giants fans, I'll gather, would have seen Sandoval being back in 2015 as a positive development, depending on the contract.</p>
<p>Well, we were all wrong. The human YouTube comments were right. Pablo Sandoval has been awful, among the worst players in either league. He's still owed $72.4 million. Let's<a href="http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/mcadam-conditioning-real-concern-sandoval" target="_blank"> check in with CSN New England</a> and see what the latest articles are s...</p>
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<p>Pablo Sandoval's conditioning is an issue.</p>
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<p>That's the first sentence.</p>
<p>So things aren't going well for Sandoval over there.</p>
<p>We can drift down the dark alleys of this alternate reality on two fronts.</p>
<h4>What would have happened to Matt Duffy?</h4>
<p>It's a fair question. There was some talk about him getting some time in the outfield, but there was also talk of letting him do it in Triple-A. There's no scenario in which the Giants come out better, of course. He would have likely filled in for Joe Panik after the back injury, which would have led to small-sample chicanery. Either he would have hit poorly and convinced everyone he was really a utility player, or he would have hit well and gone right back to the bench before the start of next season. Unless he was traded, which would have been a possibility, too.</p>
<p>There's no way the story has a happy ending. It's a <a href="https://twitter.com/mccoveychron/status/16314143873" target="_blank">Choose Your Own Story</a> that ends with Pablo Sandoval, back at third, year after year, still making the talk radio lines burn up. The best outcome is probably that Duffy hits his way into a starting left field gig, which would have prevented us from discovering that he plays third base with grace and aplomb.</p>
<p>Instead, the Giants have their third baseman for a year longer, and he's much younger and cheaper. More productive, too. Losing out on a free agent target and then finding a superior option under the bed is <i>so</i> Cardinals. It almost makes me feel ashamed. Almost.</p>
<h4>This offseason would have been Mike Leake and lots of sleep</h4>
<p>Maybe not the actual Mike Leake, but whatever his equivalent would have been in the Giants' eyes. The <a href="http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/9/10/9306129/sf-giants-2016-payroll-contracts" target="_blank">organization has a choice</a>: one big, fancy starting ace-type, or two above-average quiet types. With Sandoval, they would have had to pick just one mid-market starter and hope he didn't go all Matt Morris.</p>
<p>(Actually, that strategy still shouldn't surprise us. That seems like a very Giants offseason, really.)</p>
<p>The most important development this season was the emergency of Duffy and the confidence the Giants have in the lineup if everyone is healthy. This will allow them to dish out a hefty salary to a pitcher, considering they don't have a hefty salary for their third baseman (or second baseman, for that matter.)</p>
<p>With Pablo back, the offseason focus would have been a) could Pablo rebound?, b) what's wrong with Pablo?, c) how in the heck are the Giants going to find another starting pitcher when they're already close to the top of their budget, and d) seriously, Pablo's probably fine, right? Instead of charging into the offseason with an obvious need and the means with which to fill it, the Giants would have looked around nervously, unsure of how to best improve the roster.</p>
<p>Now, there will be a twist. I mean, I don't know what it is, but there's always a twist. Baseball is a student-filmmaker who's watched nothing but Shyamalan movies, and it thinks it's so clever. Sandoval will hit .367 next year, whereas the Giants will use the savings on a neo-Zito. Or Kendry Flores will win two Cy Youngs for the Marlins that he would have won with the Giants if Sandoval re-signs. Don't start howling at the moon just yet about how lucky the Giants are they missed out on him.</p>
<p>Knowing what we know now? Goodness, how the Giants got stupendously lucky on this one. It's the kind of luck that could help the 2019 roster, much less next year's. I was devastated that the Giants lost out on Sandoval. I was also devastated they missed out on James Shields. I was devastated last night when Safeway was out of pine nuts. Really, I take things much too hard. When it comes to Sandoval, though, his decision should be paying off for the Giants for years and years. Just not how we all expected.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/9/21/9366653/sf-giants-offseason-rumors-pablo-sandoval-eepGrant Brisbee2015-03-09T08:47:46-07:002015-03-09T08:47:46-07:00Pablo Sandoval knew he was leaving
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<figcaption>Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do.</p> <p>Pablo Sandoval could have sat this one out. He could have politely muttered boilerplate responses through gritted teeth, telling everyone that he enjoyed his time in San Francisco but needed new challenges. The Red Sox have only won three championships in 10 years, and they're in the middle of a championship drought right now. That's the kind of challenge that can motivate anyone.</p>
<p>Sandoval didn't sit this one out. In a <a target="new" href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2389632-home-in-boston-pablo-sandoval-says-leaving-san-francisco-not-hard-at-all?is_shared=true?is_shared=true">conversation with Bleacher Report's Scott Miller</a>, Sandoval revealed that he knew he was gone in spring training last year because the Giants disrespected him and his agent.</p>
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<p>"I knew early in spring training last year I was going to leave," Sandoval said. "They didn't respect my agent. Contract talks, everything. The way Brian Sabean (Giants general manager) talked to my agent."</p>
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<p>It wasn't just the GM being sour, either. Pablo hated everyone. Well, almost everyone. He was asked who he would miss from the Giants.</p>
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<p>"Only Bochy," Sandoval said of Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "I love Boch. He's like my dad. He's the only guy that I miss. And Hunter Pence. Just those guys.</p>
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<p>If he had left it at "Only Bochy," it wouldn't have been that weird. It would have indicated that he had a special bond with his manager, or some such, and that was the only extraordinarily difficult separation. Except he singled out one player. Now it moves from "special bond with manager" to "there were, like, 29 or 30 complete butts in that locker room, and I hope their locker room is infested with centipedes." Give or take.</p>
<p>Is it wrong to read too much into this GIF?</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2260459/iKUNxRG8SlGSf.gif"></p>
<p>That's after Matt Cain's perfect game, and Buster Posey shoos him away like he's Pablo's schoolmarm. I can see the Giants having a serious side that Pablo doesn't have. I can see personalities clashing every danged year for months and months and months, then starting up a year later. Six years is a long time.</p>
<p>Still, it kind of stings. The Giants keep everyone, and everyone wants to be kept. Except for Pablo, the first homegrown All-Star hitter since Matt Williams. He was annoyed with everyone and wanted to leave.</p>
<p>Well, fine.</p>
<p>Be that way.</p>
<p>We have McGanatee hats to buy.</p>
<p>Not even tripping.</p>
<p> </p>
<div style="font-size:6px">sniff</div>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/3/9/8175581/pablo-sandoval-giants-free-agent-traderGrant Brisbee2014-11-25T10:16:26-08:002014-11-25T10:16:26-08:00Pablo Sandoval in a Red Sox uniform? Ew.<h3 class="link-title"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/537308085837000704">Pablo Sandoval in a Red Sox uniform?&nbsp;Ew.</a></h3>
<div class="description"><p><p>Sorry. But not really. You need to face your grief before you can move on.</p></p></div>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/11/25/7282803/heres-pablo-sandoval-in-a-red-sox-uniformGrant Brisbee2014-11-24T15:21:52-08:002014-11-24T15:21:52-08:00The best videos from Pablo Sandoval, Giant
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<figcaption>John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>I'll write a blog that reminds us of the good times; I'll write a blog that reminds us of the bad times.Oooohhhhhh, Daaaanny Boyyyyy ...</p> <p>Today is a sad day. Pablo Sandoval is no longer on the Giants. I will spend the afternoon putting my daughter's Giants Pillow Pet panda on a raft, pushing it into Lake Chabot, and firing flaming arrows at it. Also, evading the police. Today is a sad day.</p>
<p>But there were good times, no? There were good times. Let us remember the good times. Here are the top Pablo moments from his Giants career, presented in chronological order. As usual, I screwed up and left something off, but that's the tagline of the site by now, so deal with it.</p>
<h4>Walk off vs. Nationals</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=4535257&topic_id=6479266&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>This was a fun one. The Giants hadn't won a World Series in San Francisco yet, so all we had were these lousy walk-off wins to buoy our spirits. At the time, this was the most exciting hit in ... three years? Dunno, close to it. The Giants were down to their final strike, and then Sandoval whomped one over the wall. He was so good in 2009, y'all. I don't miss the spilsborghian feeling that nothing was ever going to work out for the Giants, but I miss the excitement of a 22-year-old Panda doing fantastic things a year after we were barely aware of his existence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4><a href="http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2010/10/21/1765161/some-thoughts-on-game-4-of-the-nlcs" target="New">"Double ... no. Double ... yes!"</a></h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=12874017&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>Pablo Sandoval lost his job to a 54-year-old Edgar Renteria, essentially. For all the Señor Octubre talk, it's worth remembering just how bad Sandoval was leading up to the 2010 postseason. He had this hit, though, and the Giants won the World Series later. Mostly without his help after that, but he'll always have this double.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4>Other walk off vs. Nationals</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=27334741&topic_id=28898650&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>Apparently, Pablo Sandoval is a total jackass to the Nationals, constantly slapping books out of their hands when they walk down the hall and such. I don't know what they did to deserve it. The first walk-off came when the Nationals were quite possibly the worst team of the decade, give or take. This one came when the Nationals were supposed to be excellent. I'm not sure if that makes it cooler or not, but I do know that Sandoval hit the corked snot out of that ball. It was the second-longest homer of the year (464 feet).</p>
<p>Come baaaaaaack, Pablo.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4>The cycle</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=19262231&topic_id=6479266&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>Travel back in time to 2008. The Giants have two portly, slow catchers. One of them is Bengie Molina. The other one is Sandoval, whom Molina is <a href="http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3335822/" target="new">going to treat like "a son."</a> You are in a bar, watching the Giants lose to the Portland Beavers, 11-1. You slap a $100 bill on the table.</p>
<p>"Both Molina and Sandoval will hit for the cycle in the next five years. I will put down this $100 bill. You can take the bill for now, but if it happens, I will return for your eternal soul, which will belong to me."</p>
<p>Someone would take the $100 bill. And when Sandoval hit for the cycle, that person would live the rest of their lives in fear of a mysterious stranger who would never return. Basically, what I'm saying is that would use a time machine for trolling, and not much else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4>Three home runs vs. the Tigers</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25448307&topic_id=43383428&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
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<p>This will be the iconic highlight. Unless it's Sandoval catching the last out of the 2014 World Series. I can't decide! I love them all so much. After struggling and falling behind in the NLDS and NLCS in 2012, it was weird to watch the Giants storm ahead and never look back for once.</p>
<p>When we can make books with GIFs on the cover, my biography of Sandoval will be titled, "Pablo Sandoval: Wow."</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4>Three home runs vs. the Padres</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=30339683&topic_id=11493214&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> <br><br>This was toward the end of a stinky season, but a reminder that individual feats in individual games could still be an incredible amount of fun. Pablo Sandoval doubled the total number of home runs hit at Petco Park since it opened, and everyone was richer for it. Especially Pablo, who is much richer now.</p>
<p>Oh, no.</p>
<p>It's too soon.</p>
<p>Come baaaaaack, Pablo. Why? Why? Why? Was it something Ratto wrote? Is there something we can do? Let's go out and get a drink and talk about this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1">★★★</span></p>
<h4>Game tied</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=36751605&topic_id=63817564&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> <br><br>I screwed up and left this off my most-important-hit post last week, but it should have been on there. If Pablo pops it up, the Giants lose the game, and there's a not insignificant chance they lose the series. If Posey isn't carrying a dozen old-timey irons in his underpants, this is remembered as The Hit That Won the Game. Instead, it's a deep track that only aficionados will remember in a few years. It's probably the most important hit of Pablo's Giants career, to be honest.</p>
<h4>Game 4</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=36863129&topic_id=63106348&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>Just prior to the Giants catching up, the Royals were yukking it up, acting awfully loose for a team that could still win the World Series. Instead of going down 3-1, though, the Giants came roaring back with the help of Sandoval, who had two right-handed hits at a time where it seemed like he wasn't going to get another right-handed hit again.</p>
<h4>The final out</h4>
<p><iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=36878097&topic_id=61827086&width=600&height=336&property=mlb" width="600" height="336" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p>
<p>Fare thee well, Panda. You were a good Giant who gave this organization more than almost any player before it. There were dingers and doubles, there were diving catches, and you even threw out would-be base stealers at a 33-percent clip before you were moved to third by some prescient genius.</p>
<p>The Giants released this statement:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Pablo Sandoval has been a key member of the Giants since breaking into the Majors with us in 2008. He has been with us through some of the greatest moments in San Francisco Giants history - including all three World Series Championships. We will never forget his World Series MVP performance in 2012 and his numerous contributions to the 2014 Championship. His connection with Giants fans - young and old - is truly special and he will be greatly missed. We wish him nothing but the best in Boston.</p>
<p>We are extremely proud of what our team accomplished in 2014 and we look forward to continuing to invest in and strengthen our team for next season.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I've read that four times while syncing it with this:</p>
<p><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nSz16ngdsG0" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Come baaaaaack, Pablo. Come baaaaaaaaaaack.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unless Yasmany Tomas is better. Because if that's the case, this might work out after all.</p>
<p>This is so danged weird.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/11/24/7278131/pablo-sandoval-giants-career-retrospectiveGrant Brisbee2014-11-24T11:17:14-08:002014-11-24T11:17:14-08:00Reacting to the loss of Pablo Sandoval
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<figcaption>Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Pablo Sandoval is almost certainly going to the Red Sox. Here's how to react, and here's how not to react.</p> <p>Then the fox looked up in the tree, which was filled with hitters with limited in-game power and weight concerns, and he said, "I'll bet there's a better way for the Giants to spend $100 million."</p>
<p>Before we get to that smooth, smooth stage of acceptance, though, it's time to wail and gnash some teeth. The Giants have likely lost a homegrown fan favorite for the first time since Will Clark went to the Rangers. This isn't supposed to happen. The Giants keep everybody. The Giants keep <i>everybody</i>.</p>
<p>Everyone's upset. I'm upset. I wasn't going to drink this early, but like the saying goes, "It's noon somewhere." Pablo Sandoval probably isn't on the Giants anymore, and that's horrifying and gross.</p>
<p>Pablo Sandoval probably isn't on the Giants anymore.</p>
<p>Because everyone's upset, you're going to read or hear some things about the former fan favorite. Some will be nasty. Some will be irrational. Some might be strangely rational. They'll run the spectrum. Allow me to chime in with some reactions to the reactions:</p>
<h4>Pablo Sandoval is a traitor/trader because the Giants were offering him the same money</h4>
<p>Nah.</p>
<p>Baseball players aren't normal. You probably remembered that because of words like "$95 million," but I'm talking in a professional sense. They have 10 or 15 years to play Major League Baseball, and that's if they're lucky. They don't get decades to experience new things, different situations. Sandoval could have tried for a fourth ring in a familiar place, or he could experience something new. I don't see what the problem is with someone taking the latter option. It's a viable human response. Some people want to spend their vacations hiking every trail in Yosemite, over and over again, and some people want to backpack through Nepal because they've never done it.</p>
<p>Or maybe Sandoval just hates you, specifically. He heard those things you were saying back in May.</p>
<h4>This is probably because the Giants lowballed him in March</h4>
<p>Perhaps!</p>
<p>Henry Schulman <a href="https://twitter.com/hankschulman/status/536917549410050048" target="New">reports that the Giants' offer was closer to five years, $90 million</a>, but that could be post-deal PR. The reports were three years, $40 million in the spring, which was organizational code for GTFO. That offer was basically what was in the envelope Christian Slater gave to Gary Oldman in <i>True Romance</i>.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if the Giants re-signed Pablo before the season, everything is different. Don't forget Jeff Goldblum creepily dropping water on Laura Dern's hand in <i>Jurassic Park</i>! An under-contract Pablo might not get the hit off Drew Storen. Would you have traded five years of Pablo for a World Series ring? I think we all would have before the season started. It worked out just perfectly, then.</p>
<p>It's like what John Malkovich said to Matt Damon in <i>Rounders</i>, that, uh ... "I flopped the nut straight" and ... well, I can't think of an applicable quote here. Was just trying to keep the string going.</p>
<h4>Pablo will hate it in Boston when he starts to fail</h4>
<p>Oh, get over yourself.</p>
<p>If Pablo Sandoval started to struggle at the same time he gained weight here, it would have taken exactly one month-long slump for the fans to turn on him. I know the Tim Lincecum Theorem posits that fan favorites stay fan favorites around here, but fans get seriously weird about Sandoval and his weight. I watched people turn on Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres in a month.</p>
<p>If/when Pablo starts to struggle, it's going to be hard for him <i>wherever</i> he is. It's not like Giants fans reek of perspective and rational thought compared to fans everywhere else. Fans are fans, and they're jerks everywhere when it suits them.</p>
<p>There would have been more leeway in San Francisco, sure, but not that much more.</p>
<p> </p>
<h4>Good riddance</h4>
<p>The worst reaction of all. You spoiled twit.</p>
<p>I bring up 2008 a lot around here because it's impossible to describe how awful that team was. They had a Cy Young winner, sure, but the future was so bleak that the Giants were actually considering trading that Cy Young winner for Alex Rios before the season started. The only way the Giants were going to get hitters -- the absolute only way -- was if the Giants traded Lincecum or Matt Cain. People were so, so adamant about that.</p>
<p>Then a prospect jumped up all the way from A-ball and started hitting. He wasn't on Baseball America's list of the 30-best Giants prospects, but he never stopped hitting. He was the first homegrown hitter to make an All-Star team for the Giants since Matt Williams. It was a long, uncomfortable ride between Williams and Sandoval, with stops in Dantepowellsburg and Giuseppechiramonteville. Finally, here was a hitter the Giants could call their own.</p>
<p>Then that hitter helped the Giants win three World Series.</p>
<p>Unless Bruce Willis breaks through the glass and rescues Julia Roberts from the gas chamber like in <i>The Player</i>, here's the last thing he did in a Giants uniform:</p>
<p> </p>
<center> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="pablo" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EP7LlKN4BWMhYy9zdoRfc19yU6g=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2488380/pablo_usa_today.0.jpg">
</figure>
</center>
<p>That's not a bad way to go out.</p>
<p>Sandoval was the 2012 World Series MVP, and in this postseason, he set an all-time record for hits. He is a Giants legend, even if he gets 2,000 hits with the Red Sox or retires tomorrow. Pretending that he's anything else requires some serious cognitive dissonance. It also takes a short memory. If you can't remember the feeling of 2008, you should probably sit this one out. It was hopeless, and then there was Pablo.</p>
<p>Next up: acceptance. But don't let your grief tweet terrible things on your behalf in the meantime. It is better to have pabloed and lost than never to have pabloed at all.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/11/24/7276743/pablo-sandoval-red-sox-giants-dang-itGrant Brisbee2014-11-24T08:28:43-08:002014-11-24T08:28:43-08:00Pablo to Red Sox close, Giants checking in on Lester
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D36PLUzzdU9ZoS1XmmrpGvg7Jmo=/0x15:3000x2015/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44219140/176943598.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Giants need a starting pitcher as much as they need a third baseman, so here comes the next obvious rumor. </p> <p>According to Bobby Evans (on KNBR), the Giants still think they're in the Pablo Sandoval sweepstakes, with Sandoval's agent <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic/status/536899616554225665">vehemently denying all of the rumors</a> that a deal is done. Then a <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic/status/536904074172444672">photo started circulating</a> of Pablo on a plane to Boston. By "photo" I mean "hilariously ambiguous photo." Why take a picture of his face when you can take a picture of the top of his head?</p>
<p>He's probably gone, though. I don't know what this last-second subterfuge is all about, but every indication is that Sandoval is a Red Sock. I'm moving on. I went to the fifth stage of Pablo grief in July, so the World Series and the extra money are just gravy. That's an expression, not a fat joke, and you are awful. The good news is that we have a hint as to where the extra money might go. From Ken Rosenthal:</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p>To add on previous tweet about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SFGiants?src=hash">#SFGiants</a>’ potential pursuit of Lester: Club indeed has shown interest, according to a source.</p>
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/536886055690313728">November 24, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</p>
<p>Seven years, $126 million. The last time the Giants did that with an A's left-hander, they won two championships. "The definition of insanity is not trying the same rad things over and over again when they work." -- Albert Einstein, probably.</p>
<p>While Sandoval at $100 million made a fair amount of sense for a Giants team that was devoid of young hitters ready for a promotion, they have a surprisingly deep lineup when healthy. Posey, Pence, Belt is a nice head start on a middle of the order, and even if you assume that Joe Panik isn't exactly a .330 hitter just yet and that Angel Pagan will never appear in more than 80 games in a season again, it's a lineup that needs duct tape instead of steel rebar.</p>
<p>The rotation, though, is something of a mess. Lester scares me a lot less than Scherzer, so if there's a chance for the Giants to sign him instead of Sandoval, well, go for it. I probably should have written about this choice before the Sandoval news so it doesn't seem like sour grapes. I'll write that I prefer Lester about a million times more than Yasmany Tomas at this point. He makes more sense for 2015 Giants, though not so much for the 2020 Giants.</p>
<p>Sandoval is almost certainly going to the Red Sox. The Giants have money to spend. Here's a rumor that makes sense. This is probably the last rumor of the offseason, give or take several thousand.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/11/24/7275835/giants-jon-lester-rumors-pablo-sandovalGrant Brisbee